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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tessarael" data-source="post: 9874251" data-attributes="member: 12909">There are distinct bumps in character effectiveness in 5E at level 5 in particular. While that was present in 3E and earlier editions, it was not quite as major - Fireball only did 5d6 at Wizard level 5 in AD&D and 3E, and then there were the different XP progression rates across classes as you mentioned for AD&D and OD&D. But a major problem was that some classes such as Rogue and Wizard with significantly lower HP had lower survival rates. 5E has done a much better job of balancing classes.I strongly agree that it is good to have a variety in loss conditions other than death. However, magical equipment is tied strongly to character effectiveness in D&D, so the loss of multiple magic items due to some bad dice rolls can be really painful. We had a 5E campaign where the characters started a new adventure having lost their equipment, albeit able to recover it within a couple of sessions. That was more fun to play. The difference was that everyone was back to no gear and having to survive and build up from that point.I definitely had less fun in older campaigns where things appeared to be significantly uneven between characters: bad dice rolls for ability scores, bad rolls for HP, bad rolls for item saving throws ... That's why I prefer point buy for ability scores (everyone starts out the same), and the narrower spread of HP + improved survivability in 5E and A5E. I also don't like rolling for HP, just start with max HP at 1st level and half HD (round up) for HP at each level thereafter.I do want to run an adventure with wild magic with potential periodic loss of some of their magic items that are not essential to the characters. I think this needs to be spelled out at the start to players. Player's are also much more receptive to bad things happening to their characters if they are the ones suggesting it and at least partly in control of that aspect of their storyline. It also helps if they spell out red lines as to what won't work for them in a campaign.</blockquote>

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